We’re glad to announce that after 620 days in prison Pavel Syramolatau was released from prison by president pardon on September 27th. Pavel was arrested on January 17th 2011 due to attack on KGB building in Bobruisk, which was announced as solidarity action with anarchists arrested in Minsk in September 2010. In may 2011 after more than six months of investigation he was sentenced to 7 years in prison. Their action were classified by court as destruction of private property.

Under pressure of colony administration he signed petition for pardon this June.

Mikalai Dziadok (4,5 years) is finishing his 3rd month in a solitary cell after having refused to work on Saturdays. Work is obligatory in Belarusian penal colonies, but is regulated by the Labour Code, which prescribes that a person shouldn’t work more than 40 hours a week. Mikalai was forced to work more on Saturdays, but refused to do so. He was punished with 6 months of solitary confinement on June 1st. During this period he is deprived of all dates, phone calls and food supply from the outside.

Ihar Alinevich (8 years) served 14 days in a punishment cell for refusing to clean the inner yard of the colony. This work is done only by certain prisoners who relate to the downcasts*. Thus, the prison administration tries to make him the downcast as well. In Belarusian prisons the downcasts do all the dirty work, eat and work in the distance, they are objects of humiliation and often used for sex by other prisoners. The pressure can be the result of the fact that Ihar’s mother started publishing his prison diaries. Earlier he refused to sign a petition for mercy.

Aliaksandr Frantskevich (3 years) was put in a punishment cell for refusing to clean the cell, which is the work for the downcasts. Before that he was visited by a top-rank policemen, who had organised the arrests of anarchists in autumn 2010. He tried to intimidate Aliaksandr and hinted at the necessity to sign the petition for mercy. Moreover, other prisoners get punished for having contacts with Aliaksandr.(more…)